I had a long comment from blog contributor, Marcus. I didn’t publish his comment straight off as it had the name of another company in it.  Now I have his permission to publish his comment I’ve integrated my reply with his original comment. The only change I have made to his comment is to remove the name of the company website that he was quoting from.

Dear Marcus
Thank you for your comment on my blog. Thank you for the feedback on our hearing aids too.
I’ve copied your email, and my comments and answers as best I can, are in blue:

Marcus: I came across some info whilst browsing another site, http://www………com.au, (Ed. my deletion) which is essentially the website of a Melbourne based audiologist. In providing information about what thoughts should go into a person choosing a hearing aid, the company has placed the hearing aids they stock and sell within various price brackets, such as ‘economy’ right up to ‘premium’ aids, obviously from lower cost aids with basic functions/features to the top of the line aids with more features.
Elaine: It is quite common in the hearing aid industry for products to be banded according to features, and it is also common for one manufacturer to have a common underlying technology, and price according to how many features are turned on or off. There’s quite a lot of information on this on the Investor presentations of large public hearing aid companies. I don’t know how the owner of the Melbourne based audiology company categorises their products.

Marcus: Following this, though, is a topic on “DIY Hearing Aids” where the following is written:
“DIY hearing aids mean the manufacturer takes no responsibility for the outcome – you do”
Elaine: This is her opinion, but is not ours. I would write it differently and say that “Self fitting” means that you take responsibility in a way that enables you to a better outcome. There’s quite a lot of research data to say that the more the hearing aid user is involved, the better the outcome. The technology does need to be purpose designed to do this. We actually supply support on an as needs basis, and usually that’s not much. Occasionally,someone who isn’t managing well needs a lot of help, and we provide that remotely. We are always contactable – we have a team to answer the phone; a clinical staff and in- house repairs. We may be the only company in Australia with in-house repairs.

Marcus – from the website of the “Melbourne based audiologist” he is drawing from: “The manufacturer or supplier sell direct to you and you need to assess how to evaluate your needs physiologically, anatomically, physically and psychoacoustically.
Elaine: In plain language, this means that you need to be able to decide whether you can put a hearing aid in your ear, and whether you can decide that a sound is comfortable yourself. I think most people can do that, unless they are suffering from dementia, in which case they are unlikely to be buying hearing aids on line.

Marcus – from the “Melbourne based audiologist ’s website: “As an important medical and lifestyle issue, correcting hearing loss is something you need to decide is worth you entrusting with a professional or doing it yourself.
Elaine: I don’t think that using hearing aids can possibly be an important medical issue. It’s an important communication issue. Finding the cause of hearing difficulties is a medical matter, and that’s different. It is important not to put off hearing aids, as hearing is a “use it or lose it sense” so putting off using hearing aids due to cost or lack of access is worse, in my view.

Marcus – from the “Melbourne based audiologist” website: “Be aware that the costs of a DIY solution are potentially serious and permanent damage can result from an inappropriate amplification prescription and fitting”
Elaine: I agree that this could happen if you were somehow able to get hold of  very overly powerful hearing aid and put in someone else’s prescription. Indeed, this can also result from a visit to a hearing aid shop. A lady came into our clinic only this week and had been fitted in another clinic with a most inappropriate prescription and earmold. Our hearing aids are designed to be fitted to comfort and have built in output limits in every channel. We don’t use traditional prescriptions, based on audiograms, as this is not a sensible way to arrive at comfort and audibility – the most important factors in hearing aids. Traditionally, compression based hearing aids have been set up to a prescription, based on an audiogram, and then an audiologist has tweaked it away from the prescription to make it useable.

Marcus – from “Melbourne based audiologist website: “Also, you may not save any money compared to a custom device. In Australia there is a small Australian hearing aid manufacturer, who charge a lot more (add all the accessories required to program them and you’ll see costs exceed $1225 per device) than a very good quality world-leading manufacturer-made and custom pair of the latest in hearing technology.”
Elaine: I suppose this might be intended to refer to us. I challenge anyone to find a hearing aid available in Australia, in the same price point as ours that can come near it in scientific evidence, features or user satisfaction. I would prefer to compare our hearing aids with absolutely top of the range in other brands, and the price point there (we are told by our customers) can exceed $10,000 per pair.

Marcus – from “Melbourne based audiologist‘s” website: ”The technology that many smaller manufacturers offer is very out-dated. Please investigate all your options carefully.”
Elaine: Blamey and Saunders Hearing uses hearing aids with more advanced technology based on bionic ear spin off technology, and I would describe our technologies as “next generation”. Compression was introduced into hearing aids in the mid 1980’s. You will find it hard to get real specifications for most hearing aids though. We are among a minority in publishing scientific data on our technologies. As far as possible, this is independent. In most industries small technology or biotech companies are seen as likely to be the most advanced, so this seems an odd statement to me.

Marcus: What do you think about this information? Specifically:
– Do you think that the end hearing aid user can adequately assess how to evaluate their own needs ‘physiologically, anatomically, physically and psychoacoustically’ when using DIY/self-programming hearing aids?
Elaine: My comments are interleaved above. We have to do things for ourselves on a daily basis, and current philosophy encourages being as responsible as possible for our own health. I think the statement in the article is rather insulting and patronising actually. We do our tax online, book holidays; adjust the video and so on. Blamey & Saunders technology comes from cochlear implant research and we found that the implant users sometimes wanted to take over the computers themselves when they were helping us in our research in the experiments. Can you imagine telling someone else to adjust the volume for you on the TV?

Marcus: – Can “potentially serious and permanent damage’ be done by a user utilizing DIY/self-programming aids due to ‘inappropriate amplification prescription and fitting’?
Elaine: Of course you can damage your hearing with anything that makes a very loud noise. Our hearing aids though have output limits. There is much more danger with old fashioned hearing aids with few channels, where people use them very loud to try to compensate for the lack of clarity. We try and counsel people to use more subtle solutions. There is also more danger with an MP3 player. I am not aware of other DIY systems that have been purpose built from end to end.

Marcus: – And finally, do you agree with the quote at the end their stating “The technology that many smaller manufacturers offer is very out-dated”?
Elaine: Quite the reverse. I have been selling technology to hearing aid manufacturers for years, and my observation is that the smaller companies can adopt new technologies very quickly. Our hearing aids use a tiny computer chip in them and new algorithms can be implemented very quickly. Also, my understanding is that most hearing aids still use compression.

Marcus: Obviously as a hearing aid user that has gone from using non DIY CIC’s that required many audiological visits over a 6 year period for adjustments to self-programming DIY open fit BTE aids without the need for any audiological intervention, I found this information from the website cited very very interesting. I have my own views on the questions outlined above, but as an audiologist with many years’ experience and now as a business owner for DIY/self-programming hearing aids, what are your thoughts?
I look forward to your response and keep up the great work!
Elaine: Thank you so much for your encouragement.